Bale grabbed the world's attention when he scored a second-half hat-trick against Inter Milan in Tottenham's 4-3 defeat at the San Siro in October.

The Welshman, 21, then embarrassed Inter's Maicon - widely regarded as the best right-back in the world - in Spurs' 3-1 demolition of the Italian giants in the return fixture the following month.

The winger has also put in some excellent performances in the league, where he has bagged seven goals to supposedly attract the interest of Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Bale's rise to stardom was temporarily halted though when he suffered a back injury against Newcastle in January which has kept him out of action ever since.

Redknapp believes the youngster, who is now a doubt for Wednesday's clash with AC Milan, still deserves to win the players' vote as the most outstanding performer of the campaign despite not featuring over the last seven weeks.

"I can't think who else should beat him," the Spurs boss said.

"I think over the season he deserves it, and I'm not saying that because he has played here.

"He has been out for a few weeks but I don't think anyone else could beat him. (Samir) Nasri has had a good season but he has not played so well recently."

Should Bale return to action on Wednesday, his pace and finishing will provide a valuable asset against an ageing Milan defence in the second leg of the last-16 tie.

Peter Crouch's late strike ensured Spurs came away with a 1-0 lead from the first leg, but the victory was overshadowed by the behaviour of Gennaro Gattuso, who headbutted Joe Jordan after the final whistle.

Matthieu Flamini had raised the game's temperature beforehand with a horrific late tackle on Vedran Corluka that left Redknapp fuming, mainly because the Frenchman received only a yellow card for the challenge.

Aside from those two incidents, Redknapp insists the game was played in the right spirit, but has warned his side they must keep their cool if things boil over in the second leg.

"I think we have to make sure that we are ready and that we keep our heads and don't get carried away," Redknapp said.

"They have some fantastic professionals like (Alessandro) Nesta and they are great pros.

"One or two things happened in the last game. Gattuso, for whatever reason, lost his head but other than the tackle from Flamini there was nothing untoward really.

"I don't think they are a team that has a bad reputation. They have a good reputation in Europe so I cannot see it being a nasty game."

The Tottenham boss has urged his side not to curb their attacking principles against the Rossoneri despite their slender lead.

"We're at home and we have to go and try to win the game. It's not natural for us to sit on a 1-0 lead for 90 minutes," he said.

"We will pick an attacking team and have a go at them, that's how we have to play."

Before his team think about how to tackle the seven-time European champions, Redknapp has to work out how to get Tottenham back on track in their attempt to qualify for next year's Champions League.

Spurs dropped to fifth in the Barclays Premier League table this week thanks to their 3-1 defeat at lowly Blackpool 11 days ago, and Chelsea's victory over Manchester United on Tuesday.

They travel to Wolves tomorrow knowing victory will allow them to regain fourth position, but Redknapp is wary of the challenge which awaits them at Molineux.

"Chelsea and Manchester United have lost to Wolves so they must be a good side," Redknapp said.

"I saw them beat Liverpool and they were fantastic. It will be a tough game.

"The teams down there are up for it. They are organised, they raise their game against the bigger clubs."